Chapter 2The Practice Run

The tears of heartbreak and humiliation broke through the dam.

Mason's words echoed in my mind, word by word, destroying every last shred of my self-esteem.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I never would have believed that the boy who held me so tenderly last night was the same person speaking so callously now.

It turns out you don't need to be in love to do something so intimate.

You can lie to someone even when they are completely vulnerable.

I was foolishly waiting for our happily-ever-after, when in reality, I was just a joke in someone else's mouth.

I cried harder and harder, my body shaking uncontrollably, but I didn't dare make a sound.

A long time passed.

My phone buzzed with a text.

It was Mason.

[Call an Uber and go home first. The guys and I have a party tonight, it's not convenient to bring you.]

I didn't reply. He sent another.

[Make sure you go to CVS and get the Plan B pill yourself, I don't have time today. You MUST take it. Be good.]

I stared at those two messages in utter silence.

Yesterday, from sunset to dawn, Mason had tossed and turned with me again and again. Before we both passed out from exhaustion, he held me close and mumbled specifically:

"I didn't have protection for our first time. Remind me to buy you the pill tomorrow."

He even lectured me, saying a girl needs to protect herself, that emergency contraceptives are a must because he didn't want to mess up my body.

At the time, I thought he cared about me. I thought he was responsible. I thought I had finally found my happiness.

But now...

In an instant, my mind cleared.

I dug my nails into my palms, forcing myself to stop crying.

I wiped my tears, fixed my hair, and walked out of the bathroom.

Too embarrassed to go to a pharmacy in person, I ordered the pill through DoorDash. When the driver dropped it off at my porch, I waited a long time before I dared to sneak out and grab it.

After swallowing the pill with tears in my eyes, I felt like I had lost all my strength. I just sat blankly on my rug.

Ever since I moved next door to Mason at age eight, I had been his little shadow. Ten years of following him around.

I had never imagined a world without him in it. I didn't dare to.

But from today onward, it would just be me.

Outside the window, the streetlights flickered on, then eventually died out.

I don't know how much time passed before my best friend Lily FaceTimed me.

"Emma, why aren't you at our class party with Mason?

"That Mia girl from the other class showed up. Since you're not here, she's throwing herself all over Mason. They're making me sick."

Lily flipped her camera around.